Slightly surreal packaging illustration aside, this is in fact a reasonable ‘normal’ bar from the Zotter range that has thus far offered us Bacon Chocolate, Golden Cherries, Basil and Rose, and other more leftfield flavour combinations. Like all of Josef Zotter’s creations, the ingredients for this one are almost entirely fair trade, organic, or both. (The only ingredient which is neither is the salt.)

This bar is enrobed in Zotters ‘Noble’ Bitter dark Chocolate, which has 70% cocoa solids and is a good bittersweet prelude to the rich and creamy (and slightly boozy) interior.

For some strange reason this bar put me in mind of Christmas. The rich booziness of plum brandy married with the dark, smooth combination of chocolate and cream put me in mind of snowy winter nights and roaring fires. There’s no fruit in this bar for texture, no sliver of fruity jelly or tiny fragments of cunningly preserved fruit.

This is rich, thick, chocolatey indulgence in a very European way (Plum Brandy being much more popular in countries used to much colder, longer winters) and I rather enjoyed it, having been fed plums with or without chocolate and/or booze at various points by Polish relatives.

But therein lies my only question about this bar. You can’t deny that it’s a beautifully executed combination of flavours, but I do wonder if it’s one that’s likely to catch on with UK buyers of premium chocolate brands. Let’s not forget that a 70g bar of Zotter Chocolate is no a cheap thing, and I’m willing to bet that this bar isn’t as popular as some of the others in the currently available range.

If, like me, you’re quite partial to plums and brandy, then it’s definitely worth tracking down, but I’m not sure there are that many plum brandy fans out there.

Comments On This Post

Don’t get me wrong – like any Zotter chocolate bar, this is exceptionally well done. I just couldn’t help but think that in the vast pantheon of Zotter flavour combinations, a Plum & Brandy bar might not be everyone’s first pick.

Well, I’m a fan of boozy and fruity chocolates. I also happen to love Zotter’s hand-scooped bars. I stayed away from the crazier ones that I knew I wouldn’t like, but the ones I tried are certainly among some of the finest chocolate bars I have ever managed to get my hands on.

So this bar is at the top of my “Zotter bars I must try” list, along with the Cherry Brandy with Marzipan, Marc de Champagne, Scotch Whisky and Muscat Wine with Grapes.